Editor's Note: We are running this SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY post after getting permission to run...a family heirloom. I found out about it via an email by Bruce Page about his uncle. It drives home the real meaning of Memorial Day -- in more ways then one. It's about a 24-year-old British artist who had just won his dream job of working for Walt Disney -- and who quietly left a … [Read more...] about Memorial Day: Final Letter from the Young Fallen British Pilot Who Designed Jiminy Cricket
Memorial Day 2010: Remembering, Honoring… (Revisited)
Those who read my original Memorial Day article may notice that this time I have left two words off the title: “and Hoping.” This is because in the "Hoping" part of my original version I made some political and social inferences and judgments that perhaps were not appropriate for such a solemn occasion. On this Memorial Day proper, I have omitted such “implications” as my … [Read more...] about Memorial Day 2010: Remembering, Honoring… (Revisited)
Musty Old Memes
They hate our freedoms, Part 5,763. There are terrorists under your bed! The commie pinko socialists are posing as regular people. They love our freedoms. … [Read more...] about Musty Old Memes
Lula’s Iran Triumph Comes at the Rightful Expense of the United States: La Republica, Peru
This article from Peru's La Republica about the recent nuclear deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey with Iran not only gives a sense of what a global megastar Brazil President Lula has become, but it underscores the continuing enmity felt by Latin Americans toward the United States and perceived U.S. double standards in regard to Israel. For La Republica, Nicolas Lynch writes … [Read more...] about Lula’s Iran Triumph Comes at the Rightful Expense of the United States: La Republica, Peru
Gulf Disaster: Criminal or Incompetence?
The official (USGS) estimate of how much oil is surging from the breached exploratory well one-mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is now 12,000-19,000 barrels a day. That's the equivalent of a million gallons every 30-48 hours. By this measure, we passed the Exxon Valdez disaster before 10 May. On CBS Face the Nation today, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) said he believes … [Read more...] about Gulf Disaster: Criminal or Incompetence?
BP Unmasked As Movie Monster Freddie — Act I
Failure of BP engineers to plug the massive oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico with a "top kill" snuffing procedure is another kick in the gut to frustrated and outraged residents along the Gulf shorelines. Every promise to fix the nation's largest economic and environmental accidental disaster has failed and mitigating the damage will not begin until the hole 5,000 feet below … [Read more...] about BP Unmasked As Movie Monster Freddie — Act I
BP’s Deadly Path To Failure — Act II
It is said the first news accounts are the rough drafts of history. It is also promoted that history is a guide to prevent making the same mistake over and over again. If that's the case, we learned nothing, saw nothing and did nothing to prevent the largest oil spill in our nation's history that is fast approaching the world's greatest accidental man-made environmental and … [Read more...] about BP’s Deadly Path To Failure — Act II
Welcome to Arizona
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Welcome to Arizona
Israel Threatens Military Force Against Palestinian Aid Flotilla
Israel seems determined to give the lie to its own repeated claims that the embargo the IDF has been maintaining in the Gaza Strip for years now is not a form of siege warfare which, although not subject to any legal sanctions in ancient times, is now proscribed by international law. … [Read more...] about Israel Threatens Military Force Against Palestinian Aid Flotilla
Act III — Those Most Hurt By The BP Oil Spill
We've all heard the expression "Get the government off my back." In the marshes and estuaries and bayous of rural Louisiana, rural folks who fish and sell their seafood products not only preach but practice that principle. They live in a shadow economy where cash is king and keeping exacting records for the Internal Revenue Service or more recently damage claims filed … [Read more...] about Act III — Those Most Hurt By The BP Oil Spill
Fake Heroes and the Real Thing
Now we have bipartisan embroidery of war records as the Republican candidate for the President's former Senate seat in Illinois is caught giving himself a medal he didn't get in Serbia, joining the Connecticut Democrat who retroactively imagined himself in Vietnam combat. On Memorial Day weekend, such false claims recall my World War II experiences with the subjects of … [Read more...] about Fake Heroes and the Real Thing
Browner: Oil Spill Worst Environmental Disaster in U.S. History
Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama Administration, says the Gulf Oil spill now qualifies as the worst environmental disaster in American history: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy She says there will be a full investigation: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world … [Read more...] about Browner: Oil Spill Worst Environmental Disaster in U.S. History
Is ‘Leave me the Hell Alone’ Conservatism on the Rise in the GOP?
Jacob Weisberg writing in Slate: One way to understand the divisions in the Republican Party is as a clash of regional philosophies. Northeastern conservatism is moderate, accepts the modern welfare state, and dislikes mixing religion with politics. Western conservatism is hawkish, hates government, and embraces individual freedom. Southern conservatism is populist, … [Read more...] about Is ‘Leave me the Hell Alone’ Conservatism on the Rise in the GOP?
Memorial Day Weekend Music: the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
In honor of Memorial Day, here's a classic song from World War II -- my late World War II veteran father's generation. Here are The Andrews Sister in the original rendition of The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, as performed in They redid it as a special number to be shown to the troops as well:' Some young Andrews Sisters' impersonators did this version in … [Read more...] about Memorial Day Weekend Music: the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Obama’s Iranian Hostage Crisis?
We've heard it's his 9/11 and his Katrina, how about his hostage crisis? George Will on This Week: The danger isn't that it's his Katrina, it's that it's his Iranian hostage crisis. That happened to Carter in his first and, it turned out, only term. So it wasn't like Katrina which was sort of beside the point by which time Bush was a spent force anyway... [The Iranian hostage … [Read more...] about Obama’s Iranian Hostage Crisis?
Australia Will Seek International Legal Action to Halt Japanese Whaling
Disappointed and angered that diplomatic efforts so far have failed, the Australian government plans to seek international legal action to end once and for all Japan's annual whaling hunt -- a decision that has to do with public outcry in Australia and elsewhere as well as a campaign promise made in 2007 by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: Japan's whaling programme faces a … [Read more...] about Australia Will Seek International Legal Action to Halt Japanese Whaling
The Third Gulf War (Guest Voice)
The Third Gulf War Raging Moderate, by Will Durst The president may have wrestled Afghanistan and Iraq to shaky standoffs but the newest skirmish in the heads-up display of Air Force One shows him losing the third Gulf War and losing bad. Taking shots from both sides -- from both sides. Republicans are yelling at Obama for holding BP responsible for the Deepwater Horizon … [Read more...] about The Third Gulf War (Guest Voice)
Dennis Hopper: A Brilliant, Beautiful Disaster
A brilliant, original, immensely creative, much admired actor and filmmaker. Physically, a very attractive man, even at the very end. And as a human being, not the easiest to get along with. … [Read more...] about Dennis Hopper: A Brilliant, Beautiful Disaster
Just Fix It!!! – The Politics of Impotent Rage
In the dying days of the Bush Administration Saturday Night Live ran a skit featuring Kenan Thompson, the "financial expert", yelling "Just Fix It" into the screen.. It was a hilarious riff on media analysis of the unfolding financial crisis and the complete impotence of financial tycoons, government regulators and global banking structures to stem a coming economic … [Read more...] about Just Fix It!!! – The Politics of Impotent Rage
Separated from Blumenthal at Birth? Illinois Republican Senate Candidate Admits Claim of Military Award Was Inaccurate
What is in the water politicians are drinking these days -- or what is in whatever it is they're smoking -- that compels them to falsify...OOPS! mistakently misspeak -- about their military records? First, we had Connecticut's up-until-recently-hugely popular Attorney General Richard Blumenthal do his very best Pinocchio imitation about having served in Vietnam. This … [Read more...] about Separated from Blumenthal at Birth? Illinois Republican Senate Candidate Admits Claim of Military Award Was Inaccurate